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The Demographic Transition in Colombia: Theory and Evidence

Author

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  • Daniel Mejía
  • María Teresa Ramírez
  • Jorge Tamayo
Abstract
The demographic transition from high to low mortality and fertility rates was one of the most important structural changes during the twentieth Century in most Latin American economies. This paper uses a simple economic framework based on Galor and Weil (2000) for understanding the main forces behind this structural transition; namely, increases in the returns to human capital accumulation driven by continuous advances in productivity led families to reduce the number of offspring and increase the level of investment in their education. As a result, the economy transits from a stage of stagnation subject to Malthusian forces to a stage of sustained economic growth, where increases in productivity lead to improvements in living standards. We use available data for Colombia between 1905 and 2005 to test the main predictions of the model with time series analysis, finding empirical evidence in their favor.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel Mejía & María Teresa Ramírez & Jorge Tamayo, 2008. "The Demographic Transition in Colombia: Theory and Evidence," Borradores de Economia 538, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    • Handle: RePEc:bdr:borrec:538
    DOI: 10.32468/be.538
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    Cited by:

    1. Carlos Esteban Posada, 2013. "Crecimiento económico y transición demográfica: un modelo y el caso colombiano de los siglos XIX y XX," Revista Desarrollo y Sociedad, Universidad de los Andes,Facultad de Economía, CEDE, December.
    2. Miguel Urrutia & Mauricio Ruiz, 2010. "Ciento setenta años de salarios reales en Colombia," Revista ESPE - Ensayos sobre Política Económica, Banco de la Republica de Colombia, vol. 28(63), pages 154-189, December.
    3. Jorge Andrés Tamayo Castaño, 2012. "Asimetrías en la demanda por trabajo en Colombia: el papel del ciclo económico," Borradores de Economia 689, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    4. Adolfo Meisel-Roca & Juliana Jaramillo-Echeverri & María Teresa Ramírez-Giraldo, 2018. "Más de cien anos de avances en el nivel de vida: El caso de Colombia," Cuadernos de Historia Económica 15922, Banco de la República, Economía Regional.
    5. Tamayo Castaño, Jorge Andrés, 2012. "Asimetrías en la demanda por trabajo en Colombia : el papel del ciclo económico," Chapters, in: Arango-Thomas, Luis Eduardo & Hamann-Salcedo, Franz Alonso (ed.), El mercado de trabajo en Colombia : hechos, tendencias e instituciones, chapter 12, pages 487-542, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    6. Ana María Iregui-Bohórquez & Ligia Alba Melo-Becerra & María Teresa Ramírez-Giraldo & Ana María Tribín-Uribe, 2020. "The path to gender equality in Colombia: Are we there yet?," Borradores de Economia 1131, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    7. Juliana Jaramillo-Echeverri & Adolfo Meisel-Roca & María Teresa Ramírez-Giraldo, 2017. "More than One Hundred Years of Improvements in Living Standards: the Case of Colombia," Borradores de Economia 1027, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Economic Growth; Demographic Transition; Colombia.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C32 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes; State Space Models
    • J11 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts
    • N36 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Latin America; Caribbean
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General
    • O54 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Latin America; Caribbean

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